velotel
04-29-2012, 12:51 PM
Saturday morning, worked on the house, another project wrapped, time to ride. Gorgeous morning, clear and no wind, at last. This after two days of pounding wind. Plus the temperature has climbed nicely after a month of mostly cold and wet. Perfect, an afternoon ride. Then the proverbial fly arrived, splat, smack dab in the ointment. The afternoon was swept in by a fierce wind. Okay, no problem. I’ll do those cols tucked up under the cliffs of the Vercors, should be calm there. Been years since I rode there.
Vif, parked along the river, opened the door to get out, the wind practically ripped it off the hinges. Hmmm, maybe my wind shadow is going to be a bit on the lean side. Start is a little back road connecting Vif to the village of le Gua, nice way to avoid the main road. A bit of a staircase as I recalled, something to shake the legs out of their doldrums. Easy start along the river, then the first ramp. Oops, bit steeper than I remembered. Longer too. And the flats between the risers are way shorter. Second ramp, whoa, we’re talking 20% here, minimum. Digging deep and I’ve barely left the start zone. Second ramp blended right into the third, no time even to blink between them. And the third is steeper and longer yet. Hmmm, heck of a start. Keeps going like that. But hey, the real climb to the col is mostly a cruise with just moments of stiffness. Hit the top, downhill into le Gua. I’d forgotten the downhill was so long. Guess I climbed more than I thought.
Okay, on the road for the Col de l’Arzelier some 2600 feet higher. Lower section has lots of 8%, give or take. A good climb, nothing desperate, just enough to give the muscles a good tickle. Exit the village, hit the first ramp, instantly slammed back by a howling wind straight in the face. So fierce getting out of the saddle was a battle. Lowest gear, 34/27, settled into my mountain bike climbing mode. Road curls left and right, so does the wind, always right in the face. No gusts, just a steady blast. A junction, go right for the col, swing up the mountain side, cross a drainage, go right, suddenly I’m in the shadow. The air’s gone all still, nothing moving, just me. I can even hear the tires on pavement. Sweet. Shift cogs, start to roll, look ahead and see trees rocking and rolling only there’s no music. Shift back to the big cog and get ready. In the face, as fierce as ever.
Pressing on, every meter gained a minor battle won. The road angles up, nowhere to go on the cassette. Hit a ramp coming into a village and a gust almost stops me. Curl left, road goes flat in the village. Wind does too. Then it’s up again through the woods and into a beautifully round S turn. The middle part with the wind on my back. A miracle. Back into the woods, back into the steepness, back against the wind.
The col, nondescript, a small ski station, and now down. Should be fast but isn’t, air brakes super efficient today. Gorgeous views. Have to stop to shoot. Off again. Excellent. A junction, head right towards St Andéol. Hit a flat, maybe even slightly downhill, and I’m in my 34/27, standing up, straining to keep moving. Not sure I’m going to succeed. I do, into the shelter of the village. Stop at the fountain, refill one bottle, already emptied two. Off again, heading to the Col des Deux, short climb, forested, should be a wind shelter, easy riding again, nice.
Road ramps up, wind still smacking me around. Into the forest, road ramps up some more. Through two switchbacks, road steeper yet. Wind picking up too. Exit the forest and wind is howling over the col and straight into my face. The road is ferociously steep. I learn later the last k and a half average 12%. Felt like 30%, minimum. Every pedal stroke was intense. Started to wonder if for the first time in my life I’d have to walk my bike to the summit. Stopped to shoot two pics, one looking down, one looking up. Wondered if I’d be able to get going again. Had to stand with my legs wide apart to keep from being blown over. Got back on, wobbled off, up the mountain. Got to the col, didn’t stop, afraid that if I did and tried to dismount, the wind would knock me over.
Then it was down. Didn’t know it at the time (no gps, no computer, no map, not even a watch) but the col was just about exactly half way as it turned out. Also turned out to be all, well, almost all, downhill from there. But slowly at first. Not out of choice. A massive wind brake in full use. Dropped through a small defile with the wind howling up through, battering my bike left and right, then I was through and that was it for the head winds. Hit a junction, Gresse en Vercors to the right, Monestier de Clermont to the left. I was tired, went left. Could have gone right for more distance but my legs were toast, the rest of me burnt crust. I was ready to cruise.
Good pitch at first, nice acceleration, down through a series of linked S turns, big panoramas to the left. Stopped where the road sliced across a cliff. I could see where I’d ridden across the mountainside between the two cols. Shot some pics. Rolled off. Out of the forest into a sloping plateau of fields to the village of St Paul les Monestier, wee bit of going up, the legs in instant protest. To no avail. Then down again into Monestier de Clermont and onto the route nationale to Vif, a road I’ve never ridden. Never wanted to. It’s the main line between Grenoble and south France and this section used to be notorious. Then they built an autoroute to the ridgeline just above Monestier de Clermont. Siphoned off most of the traffic. Plus this was saturday, no holiday, just an ordinary saturday. It’s also all downhill from Monestier to Vif. Plus that bloody wind was now that glorious wind on my back! It’s a downhill but not much of one, 3%, 4%, grades, maybe verging from rare time to time towards 5%, maybe.
What a marvelous finish, 17 k of big ring, small cog spinning with the wind on my back. Okay, I admit for me that’s only a 50/12, not quite earth shaking speeds. Even I with my old legs could have spun a 52/12 or maybe even a 52/11 down that road saturday. I was perfectly happy with the 50/12. A perfect end to an interesting day. Actually a very good day, 63 k or glorious roads and, according to ridewithgps.com, some 6500 vertical feet (always put the distance in metric and the vertical in feet, bigger numbers). The distance is probably good; for the vertical I think ridewithgps exaggerates, by a good bit.
Now some pictures. They appear in order, in other words as the ride moved along. Enjoy
Vif, parked along the river, opened the door to get out, the wind practically ripped it off the hinges. Hmmm, maybe my wind shadow is going to be a bit on the lean side. Start is a little back road connecting Vif to the village of le Gua, nice way to avoid the main road. A bit of a staircase as I recalled, something to shake the legs out of their doldrums. Easy start along the river, then the first ramp. Oops, bit steeper than I remembered. Longer too. And the flats between the risers are way shorter. Second ramp, whoa, we’re talking 20% here, minimum. Digging deep and I’ve barely left the start zone. Second ramp blended right into the third, no time even to blink between them. And the third is steeper and longer yet. Hmmm, heck of a start. Keeps going like that. But hey, the real climb to the col is mostly a cruise with just moments of stiffness. Hit the top, downhill into le Gua. I’d forgotten the downhill was so long. Guess I climbed more than I thought.
Okay, on the road for the Col de l’Arzelier some 2600 feet higher. Lower section has lots of 8%, give or take. A good climb, nothing desperate, just enough to give the muscles a good tickle. Exit the village, hit the first ramp, instantly slammed back by a howling wind straight in the face. So fierce getting out of the saddle was a battle. Lowest gear, 34/27, settled into my mountain bike climbing mode. Road curls left and right, so does the wind, always right in the face. No gusts, just a steady blast. A junction, go right for the col, swing up the mountain side, cross a drainage, go right, suddenly I’m in the shadow. The air’s gone all still, nothing moving, just me. I can even hear the tires on pavement. Sweet. Shift cogs, start to roll, look ahead and see trees rocking and rolling only there’s no music. Shift back to the big cog and get ready. In the face, as fierce as ever.
Pressing on, every meter gained a minor battle won. The road angles up, nowhere to go on the cassette. Hit a ramp coming into a village and a gust almost stops me. Curl left, road goes flat in the village. Wind does too. Then it’s up again through the woods and into a beautifully round S turn. The middle part with the wind on my back. A miracle. Back into the woods, back into the steepness, back against the wind.
The col, nondescript, a small ski station, and now down. Should be fast but isn’t, air brakes super efficient today. Gorgeous views. Have to stop to shoot. Off again. Excellent. A junction, head right towards St Andéol. Hit a flat, maybe even slightly downhill, and I’m in my 34/27, standing up, straining to keep moving. Not sure I’m going to succeed. I do, into the shelter of the village. Stop at the fountain, refill one bottle, already emptied two. Off again, heading to the Col des Deux, short climb, forested, should be a wind shelter, easy riding again, nice.
Road ramps up, wind still smacking me around. Into the forest, road ramps up some more. Through two switchbacks, road steeper yet. Wind picking up too. Exit the forest and wind is howling over the col and straight into my face. The road is ferociously steep. I learn later the last k and a half average 12%. Felt like 30%, minimum. Every pedal stroke was intense. Started to wonder if for the first time in my life I’d have to walk my bike to the summit. Stopped to shoot two pics, one looking down, one looking up. Wondered if I’d be able to get going again. Had to stand with my legs wide apart to keep from being blown over. Got back on, wobbled off, up the mountain. Got to the col, didn’t stop, afraid that if I did and tried to dismount, the wind would knock me over.
Then it was down. Didn’t know it at the time (no gps, no computer, no map, not even a watch) but the col was just about exactly half way as it turned out. Also turned out to be all, well, almost all, downhill from there. But slowly at first. Not out of choice. A massive wind brake in full use. Dropped through a small defile with the wind howling up through, battering my bike left and right, then I was through and that was it for the head winds. Hit a junction, Gresse en Vercors to the right, Monestier de Clermont to the left. I was tired, went left. Could have gone right for more distance but my legs were toast, the rest of me burnt crust. I was ready to cruise.
Good pitch at first, nice acceleration, down through a series of linked S turns, big panoramas to the left. Stopped where the road sliced across a cliff. I could see where I’d ridden across the mountainside between the two cols. Shot some pics. Rolled off. Out of the forest into a sloping plateau of fields to the village of St Paul les Monestier, wee bit of going up, the legs in instant protest. To no avail. Then down again into Monestier de Clermont and onto the route nationale to Vif, a road I’ve never ridden. Never wanted to. It’s the main line between Grenoble and south France and this section used to be notorious. Then they built an autoroute to the ridgeline just above Monestier de Clermont. Siphoned off most of the traffic. Plus this was saturday, no holiday, just an ordinary saturday. It’s also all downhill from Monestier to Vif. Plus that bloody wind was now that glorious wind on my back! It’s a downhill but not much of one, 3%, 4%, grades, maybe verging from rare time to time towards 5%, maybe.
What a marvelous finish, 17 k of big ring, small cog spinning with the wind on my back. Okay, I admit for me that’s only a 50/12, not quite earth shaking speeds. Even I with my old legs could have spun a 52/12 or maybe even a 52/11 down that road saturday. I was perfectly happy with the 50/12. A perfect end to an interesting day. Actually a very good day, 63 k or glorious roads and, according to ridewithgps.com, some 6500 vertical feet (always put the distance in metric and the vertical in feet, bigger numbers). The distance is probably good; for the vertical I think ridewithgps exaggerates, by a good bit.
Now some pictures. They appear in order, in other words as the ride moved along. Enjoy